Local

HARWINTON -- If resident Joan Kirchner gets her wish, Gen. George Washington and his troops may soon get a facelift and a lot more respect.

An effort is under way to restore local muralist Arthur Covey's once-vibrant painting depicting a scene from the Revolutionary War so the public may enjoy it once again.

Painted in 1948, the mural is hidden away in a little-used classroom in the original section of Harwinton Consolidated School after spending four decades as the prominent feature of the school's auditorium and cafeteria. Anyone who attended elementary school in town during the 1950s through the late 1980s recalls the scene of Washington hailing his soldiers from atop a white horse.

Covey and his wife, famed children's author Lois Lenski, lived in town from 1929 until 1960. Kirchner, who attended Harwinton Consolidated, grew up on Harmony Hill Road next to their home and was a friend of Lenski.

Kirchner said that when a friend from Wisconsin who was working on a biography of Lenski came for a visit in August, she provided a tour of the couple's old residence and stopped off at the school to show off the mural.

"I was appalled by where it was," Kirchner said, recalling its former prominence before the large room was subdivided. When town offices were housed in the school, the former cafeteria was used for town meetings and as a polling place. That ended when a new Town Hall was built, the school was expanded and the room was subdivided. History got mothballed.

"It's now a kindergarten reading room," she said, adding that she immediately noticed that the mural "needed a cleaning and attention."

She contacted Region 10 Superintendent Alan Beitman, who "kind of got the ball rolling," and later Harwinton First Selectman Michael R. Criss.

Beitman said Monday that he emailed 15 nationally recognized art galleries. After sending a cellphone photo follow-up, he got a response from Ulrich Birkmaier, chief conservator of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford. Birkmaier visited the school in late September before leaving on an extended trip to Italy.

Beitman say he's now waiting to receive a multipoint proposal from Birkmaier on what the value of the mural might be, so the district's insurance policy can be adjusted, and on what it might cost to restore the mural. The painting has suffered from mold and crayon marks from students. "I'm guessing it will come after the first of the year. He was very excited about the project, very interested in the project," he said.

Beitman said Birkmaier judged the mural to be "an undocumented piece of art."

Although it was never a secret, the mural is largely unknown outside of town. Kirchner said Covey "donated that to the school. He donated that to the children of Harwinton when the school was built." Yet, she said, a recent exchange with Covey's grandchildren revealed that even they didn't know about it.

Restoration of the mural is on hold until Birkmaier responds. "It's a question of how to proceed and where the funds would come from," Beitman said. Restoration and protecting it in the future "are going to be the costly items. What they are going to be, I have no idea."

Beitman said a 1996 newspaper article about the mural noted damage, suggesting that the mural hasn't been marred recently. He said the room isn't used much and children are never allowed in the room unattended.

"It just bothers me that it's tucked away in a corner like it doesn't matter. It bothers me that it's ignored and neglected," Kichner said.

Because the room has an exterior door, Beitman said it might be possible to open the restored mural for public viewing. Kirchner suggests a small museum or reading room dedicated to Lenski and Covey, who painted other murals that can be seen in post offices in Torrington and Bridgeport.

Town Historian Roger Plaskett said he supports the proposal to restore the mural. "I think it's a good cause," Plaskett said. "Art Covey was a nationally renowned artist. It's part of our heritage. It's one of our treasures. It should be preserved."

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